1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and method for archiving distributed computer system data to one or more archival storage devices in an efficient and scalable manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Large organizations typically use networked computer systems that include many different physical nodes, many of which produce data items such as emails, files, databases, etc. Current and frequently used data items are typically kept on fast but expensive storage devices. Organizations often employ archival software to move old or infrequently accessed data items to archival storage devices where they can be stored more cheaply. As part of the archival process, a searchable index is often created so that the archived data items can be easily searched for and located in the archives.
A large organization may include many different types of computer systems that produce many different types of data items. It can be very difficult for administrators to configure an archival system to archive and index all of the various types of data items produced by the different computer systems in such a way that the archival system makes efficient use of its computer resources, and in also in such a way that enables the archival system to be easily scaled up to handle increased workloads.